‘The Walking Dead’ Season 8 Episode 7 recap: ‘Time for After’

Here are the three biggest moments from Season 8 Episode 7 of ‘The Walking Dead.’USA TODAY

Spoiler alert! The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 7, “Time for After.” To read our recap of Episode 6, click here.

The Walking Dead may be known for its graphic violence, gross zombie kills and the relentlessness with which it kills off fan-favorite characters, but it is also a show that spends the vast majority of its time twiddling its thumbs. Season 8, thus far, has been a frustratingly slow affair, and even when it tried to keep the action amped up for multiple episodes at its opening, they were poorly paced and lacked emotional stakes.

Sunday’s outing, “Time for After,” was essentially the last bit of wheel-spinning the series needed to get out of the way before a seemingly-inevitable bombastic mid-season finale next week. It was a small step up from last week’s dull episode, but still felt frustratingly slow and steered some of the series’ better characters in poor directions.

But hey, at least there was that cool zombie head.

Being Eugene Porter

Oh, Eugene. Things just aren’t getting better for you, are they?

As frustrating as the character and his speaking pattern can be, actor Josh McDermitt turned in great work this week as Eugene slowly breaks down over the course of the episode. In particular, his shouted rant at Gabriel’s hospital bed was among the most compelling things the series had done all year. If only the rest of his storyline followed through.

Eugene spends much of the rest of the episode in a dance with Dwight over the knowledge that Dwight is the Alexandrian mole, but neither of them can really follow through on their principles. Eugene can’t rat Dwight out, and Dwight can’t kill Eugene. That leaves the status quo virtually unchanged as Negan and the rest of his lieutenants take whatever exit strategy Eugene came up with. It leaves the door open for a big reveal next week, but it feels kind of cheap in the meantime.

No good deed

The wild pivot of Daryl and Tara into reckless traitors of Rick and Alexandria’s cause has been as messily handled as Morgan’s downward spiral this season, so we suppose it was only a matter of time before The Walking Dead got these crazy kids together.

Daryl’s plan is essentially the same as it was when he rough-housed with Rick — break through the Sanctuary wall to let the heard of walkers in, and hope that the innocent workers get out the back way. Only…